Cubs Bullpen Blows Early Lead, Mets Walk It Off in Extras

Still, the Cubs squandered further opportunities. Busch picked up another base hit in the top of the fourth, but a great play by Starling Marte and a pair of force outs by Madrigal and Crow-Armstrong ended the threat.

In the top of the fifth, the Cubs found a spark. Nico Hoerner smacked a single to right-center field, and Ian Happ followed with a walk. With two men on, Christopher Morel came to the dish.

The Cubs executed a double steal to get both runners into scoring position. However, it didn't matter. After narrowly missing a hanging breaking ball earlier in the at-bat, Morel smoked a high, towering shot to left field for a three-run homer to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead.

Brown cruised through the first four innings of but ran into trouble in the fifth.

Brett Baty's walk and Harrison Bader's single gave the Mets two on with no outs. The Cubs got two quick outs, but the Mets got to the righty. Brendan Nimmo singled to score a run, and Marte followed with another single to make it a 4-2 game.

After walking the bases loaded in the next at-bat, Brown was pulled by Craig Counsell. The young right-hander entered the inning without allowing a hit, but the Mets managed to get to him and force him out after 4.2 innings and 89 pitches.

Keegan Thompson then entered the game and struck out Pete Alonso on five pitches to end the threat.

In the top of the sixth, the Cubs added on. Patrick Wisdom reached on a fly ball that fell between a few Mets defenders, allowing him to cruise into second base. After a stolen bag from Wisdom, Crow-Armstrong laced a double into the right field corner, giving the Cubs a 5-2 lead.

Once again, the Mets struck back. With Thompson still on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, the Mets put a pair of runners on base via an error and a single. Francisco Lindor came through in a pinch-hit situation with a double to plate two narrow the score to 5-4.

Thompson was relieved by Richard Lovelady, who proceeded to give up a double to Brendan Nimmo, tying the game at 5-5.

Following the tie, both teams struggled to generate offense. The respective bullpens shut down the opposition the rest of the way, leading to extras.

In the top of the 10th, the Cubs threatened by getting Morel to third. On a shallow fly out, Morel tagged and was thrown out at the plate. However, the Mets did the same in the bottom of the frame, stranding a runner at third as Daniel Palencia struck out Brett Baty with a 101 MPH fastball to head to the 11th.

In the top of the 11th, Madrigal delivered a double to score Wisdom, the ghost runner, from second. After Hoerner's intentional walk, Mike Tauchman deposited a single to right. Unfortunately for the Cubs, Starling Marte came up firing and nabbed Madrigal trying to score from second. The Cubs challenged for blocking and the call at the plate, but it was unsuccessful and the correct call by the umpires. 

After Wednesday's dramatic ending, a different outcome could've sparked some chaos in the sense of critiquing umpires.

In the bottom of the 11th, the Mets had two on almost immediately after Palencia plunked Bader to open the frame. In the next at-bat, Francisco Lindor dribbled a double down the left field line and into the corner. The ghost runner, Baty, and Bader scored to end the game and give the Mets the walk-off win, 7-6.

One Core Strength

At the moment, the Cubs have one strength on the roster. Starting pitching is what's propelling the Cubs. Although the offense managed six runs on Thursday, the bullpen ultimately let the Mets back in the game and surrendered the win.

Ben Brown was solid in his 4.2 innings of work. Sure, his walk numbers need to come down, but Brown continued to work his way out of jams until the fifth inning. Additionaly, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad, and Shota Imanaga pitched well in the four-game set.

Unfortunately, the Cubs' bullpen gave away runs via Keegan Thompson and Richard Lovelady. The Cubs couldn't put together a full team effort to get out of New York with a series win, insead notching a series split to conclude the road trip.

What's On Tap Next?

The Cubs return to Wrigley Field on Friday for the first of six games at the Federal Landmark. For the weekend series, the Cubs host the rival Milwaukee Brewers for three games. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 1:20 PM CDT and will feature right-handed pitchers Hayden Wesneski and Joe Ross for their respective clubs.